“Historical Photo: Enter the Noma Dojo and prepare to be amazed!” by Stanley Pranin

“There is much to say about this priceless Noma Dojo collection that is the most complete visual representation of Morihei’s art in existence.”

You’ve heard of people who have achieved what can be called a “legendary” status. Aikido has its share of legends to be sure. But it’s seldom that documents attain such a status. But the visual image we are introducing to you today is part of a photo collection that is indeed the stuff of legends.

Our photo is part of the collection of extraordinary images of Morihei Ueshiba taken in 1936 inside the Noma Dojo, a private kendo dojo of note. His partner and remarkable uke is Shigemi Yonekawa. Why are they so famous? They depict Morihei O-Sensei in his physical prime at age 52, in an incredible display of technical virtuosity. The complex throws and pins, the precision and complete command of his martial art as revealed in this collection are a wonder to behold.

Have a closer look at today’s photo. Can you reconstruct this technique and figure out how Morihei was able to get into this position? Do you practice this technique in your dojo today? I doubt it!

The problem is that these photos have been suppressed for many decades. Why would this be the case? The reason is that the obvious influence of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu on Aiki Budo — the name of O-Sensei’s art in the prewar period — is clearly evident in these photos, and Morihei and his successors chose to distance themselves from Sokaku Takeda’s art for a number of historical reasons which I have touched upon elsewhere.

A few years ago, a sampling of the Noma Dojo photos was finally published in one of Professor John Stevens’ books. But only a small part of the collection was offered, and there was no attempt to provide a technical analysis or discuss the role of the photos in understanding aikido’s technical evolution. All in all, there are more than 1,100 images that have survived in two separate collections that I was able to unite back in the 1980s. That is a convoluted story in itself, full of political intrigue!